The Election Interview/Ghulam Nabi Azad
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Monday, October 14, has clarified his meeting with Governor Girish Chandra Saxena was fixed before and that he has not staked a claim to form a government.
"I called on the governor in my capacity as president of the Congress party in the state," Azad told rediff.com Chief Correspondent Onkar Singh in an exclusive interview. He said the doors for negotiations with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's People's Democratic Party are still open.
There is some confusion about your meeting with Governor Saxena. Have you staked a claim to form the government?
No, this meeting was fixed before and I called on the governor in my capacity as president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee. I have not staked a claim to form the government as yet.
Have you sought another meeting with the governor to stake your claim to form the government?
Not as yet, but we would let you know in due course.
Some Congress leaders have told the media that you have the required numbers to form the government on your own. Is that correct?
I think the time has not come to discuss these things with the media. When we have the numbers we would tell you.
As leader of the Congress Legislature Party you would be the party's chief ministerial candidate. Correct?
That is the normal procedure. Congress MLAs have unanimously elected me as leader of the party so I would naturally be the chief minister.
The PDP says if the Congress accepts its manifesto then it could give up its claim to the chief ministership.
As far as their manifesto is concerned I think there is no problem on this matter. We have discussed both the Congress and PDP manifestoes and there was no stumbling block on this matter.
The PDP's main demands are not invoking the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Jammu and Kashmir and disbanding of the Special Operations Group. Is that acceptable to you?
The media knows our views on POTA. It was the Congress that defeated POTA in the Rajya Sabha. As far as dismantling the SOG is concerned we have discussed it with Muftisaheb. They call it dismantling and we call it reorganizing. Even on these two key issues there was no difference of opinion. It is true we can present the things differently. We have told Muftisaheb that our party is not implementing POTA on the national level whereas he is talking about only repealing it in Jammu and Kashmir. Coming back to the SOG we have told them it has both positive and negative points. We would keep the positive points and look for solution to the negative points.
The PDP is also demanding the release of political prisoners and militants who have no serious charges leveled against them.
These are things that can be discussed. I would not like to go into details. I would clarify once again that there is no dispute on the manifestoes of both parties.
Have you closed the doors to negotiations with the PDP?
No, we have not closed the doors to negotiations. We are ready to meet Muftisaheb any time to discuss and sort out any
difference of opinion that he might have with the Congress party.
Did your talks with the PDP break down?
It is up to you how you interpret it. We held talks with the PDP leaders for two days on the common minimum programme. We had no difficulty in reaching a common minimum programme. The crucial point where we reached a deadlock was the PDP view that their MLAs do not want anyone else except the PDP to head the government.
We told Muftisaheb that these matters are decided by leaders but he said his MLAs would not agree. So we told them we would also have to ask the views of our MLAs. The Congress MLAs said if the PDP MLAs are bent upon giving the leadership of
the new government to the PDP, then why should they (the Congress MLAs) relent on this point? This is the position as of today. Let us see what happens next.
We will request the PDP to see our point of view and agree to our suggestion. The National Conference was a national party so it should be replaced by another national party and not a regional party. Besides, the Congress leading the government would do more good for Jammu and Kashmir than the PDP leading the government. The Congress should lead the government in the interests of the people.
Photograph: Tariq Mir; Design: Dominic Xavier
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this interview
